A line-up of prominent speakers has been arranged for a Harvard University-related summer program for Chinese high-school students next month.

The speakers at annual HAUSCR Summit for Young Leaders in China (HSYLC) would include New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, former head of Google’s China operations Kai-Fu Lee, and Chinese TV host Shui Junyi, said program spokesman Du Jing on Sunday.

About 7,000 high-school students had applied for the course, for which the fee is 3,600 yuan (530 U.S. dollars), but only 600 had been accepted, said Du.

The program is operated by the student-run Harvard College Association for U.S.-China Relations (HAUSCR) and will be held simultaneously in Beijing and Shanghai from August 12 to 23.

It would offer seminars, classes and extracurricular activities to promote critical thinking and foster “social entrepreneurship and citizenship,” according to the HSYLC website.

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The 64 Chinese students and 11 teachers in town from Shanghai, China, split up in groups Thursday to perform various forms of community service to local organizations.

One group of students from the foreign exchange program sponsored by the Forte International Exchange Association helped clean up the facilities at the Raemelton Therapeutic Equestrian Center in Mansfeild.

The Chinese students are in Mansfield for 12 days taking English classes at Mansfield Senior High School and learning about American culture.
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More than 800 students from 16 senior high schools in Taiwan visited the Taiwan Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo Tuesday, with their admission tickets presented to them by Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng.

The Taiwanese students are in Shanghai to take part in a summer camp along with students from senior high schools in the Shanghai area.

Huang Yu-I, principal of the Taipei Municipal Zhongshan Girls High School, who is one of the chief organizers of the summer camp, told CNA that the Taiwanese students visited the China Pavilion before going to the Taiwan Pavilion.

Afterward, she said, some of the Taiwanese students went to the World Expo’s Puxi area, where the Taipei Pavilion is located. The students were then allowed to visit various other exhibition sites of their own choice.

According to Huang, the students are being provided with free meals and accommodation during the camp. Each student was also given World Expo coupons worth 200 Chinese yuan (US$29.50) that can be used for buying food and gifts at the Expo.

Huang said the summer camp, which will include a forum scheduled for July 22, will help broaden the Taiwanese students’ visions and knowledge through one-to-one communications with their Shanghai counterparts.

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Welcome to any first time Travvie (Travel Blog Award) visitors. I thought it might be good to share with you the brief history of the Dreamblogue and how it came to be.

The Blog of Dreams began innocently and with a very small scope: Yanzhi and I were teaching in Macau, and as part of a class project in Global Internet Marketing we organized a blog project. Both of us and our students were frustrated by the stereotypically negative and uninformed commentary found on so many blogs about China–no this week is not new in perceptions if western media coverage. In the spirit of creating a positive voice for China and raising some money to help with charitable causes, we created The China Dreamblogue,. It was to be a site that focused on creating 100% positive China content and a mission to create educational opportunities for Chinese students and a chance for an international audience to find out more about what is right with China.

Soon the “Dream Team” team exploded with ideas for promotions and getting people around the country involved. We worked on a Technorati campaign to get favorited, participated in contests, and held our own photo contests to get people involved. Everyone was excited and happy that we were brainstorming creative ways to engage, not isolate China and its people.

During this same time in China, Yanzhi had become connected to a group of women he began to call, The League of Extraordinary Chinese Women, cancer survivors who had banded together to provide each other with strength, support, and encouragement during a times of deep t crisis. Yanzhi also introduced me to his former student, Coffee, who I later taught. She was and is a remarkable woman who has overcome bone cancer and a leg amputation to train for a professional UN translator certification program in French and has been an intern with the blog for over a year.

Entranced and empowered by the positive force of these women living their lives with freedom and courage, Yanzhi and I decided to take inspiration from these women and other people who were willing to live out their dream. As a part of our pro-China campaign, the two of us had a mission: we as two American teachers would travel around the country for a year on sponsorship from ethically responsible businesses and institutions. Our plan was to visit every province an interview someone from each province and at least one person from each of the fifty-six ethnic minorities in China.

As we began our travels, we also planned to use the Dreamblogue to do good in China. Knowing about the remarkable number of students and new graduates in China who struggle to find jobs, we agreed that we would begin an internship program that would teach students about online marketing, digital media, and professional/corporate blogging, all skills which are extremely important in China’s growing Internet environment and a skill set which few people in China have. So far, we have trained a number of interns and worked with them to develop their skills and knowledge in regards to digital media. We have focused on finding and working with students of remarkable ability who have little chance to take part in the remarkable changes and opportunities available in China.

As an additional part of helping people to achieve their dreams, we have continued to seek out schools and regularly post information on the blog about top schools around the world that are well-equipped and suited for Chinese students, such as the Cal Poly Orfalea School of Business. To this day we have had a number of students who were part of the Dreamblogue get in to top schools around the world, including the University of Michigan, UCLA, Columbia University, Ohio State, Purdue, and others.

To this day, Yanzhi and I have completed about a third of our journey, taking time to continue to accumulate material on the Dreamblogue about different aspects of China, running our photo contest here, and continuing to work with our interns to help them find schools and develop skills in digital media.

China MBA: Cal Poly State University

MBA留学：Cal Poly

中文:

China MBA Admission Info, Cost Info, and Deadlines

Cal Poly Masters in Industrial Technology

Masters in Industrial Technology Admission Info, Cost Info, and Deadlines

Pound-for-pound we think the Cal Poly MBA is the best in the world….

Created by The Greatest Living American

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Recently, I was able to complete an interview with Thomas Stader, founder of a Chinese charity organization that helps to build libraries. Here are his words about some of the latest work the Library Project has been working on.

Can you tell us a little bit about the Library Project?

The Library Project provides books and libraries to under-financed countryside elementary schools in China.

I founded The Library Project because I found that most countryside elementary schools in China were lacking books that the children could physically read. What I mean by that is, most books in a countryside elementary school were written for university and high school students. They also lack any kind of reading area for the children to curl up with a book. What we do is very simple, we donate colorful, relevant, hi-quallity books to countryside elementary schools, while also ensuring that they have a safe and fun area to read the books in.

I understand that often children’s libraries in China aren’t often stocked with good children’s books and are often cramped or uncomfortable. Can you tell us more about that?

In general, we have found a complete lack of children’s books with PinYin for young learners. A child absolutely needs PinYin to read during grades 1 – 3. So that is our first obstacle that we must overcome. Our second is a complete lack of a comfortable library for the children to gather as a class and read a book. Most schools have a room set aside for a library, but they don’t have the funding to fill the room with furniture.

What we have found is, once we bring books that the children can read, along with tables and chairs for a library, the children love it.

Cool. I understand you’ve made a lot of big developments in the past year, right?

Yes we have. We have provided our first ten libraries, with plans of reaching a goal of over 80 by the end of 2008.

That sounds like a big commitment. Isn’t it costly to build a library?

The cost is quite low. Most libraries will cost between 4,000 and 8,000 RMB. This includes hi-quality Chinese language children’s books, colorful chairs, sturdy tables, globes, plants, posters, and all logistic costs such as trucks.

What all goes into the building of a library? What kind of cost is there in terms of money, time, and other resources?

From beginning to end, it takes about one month. That includes our Pre-Assessment, purchasing of books and furniture, and final delivery of the library. We usually have a group of about 5 – 15 volunteers helping with the final delivery. Once we set up the library, we introduce the children to their new library and play games. It’s a lot of fun for both the children and the volunteers.

I also understand that you cooperate with local charities to create community support and interest for your project. Have you found that local communities and organizations are helpful and willing to be involved?

That is true. We have partnered with the Xi’an Charity Association to provide libraries to the regions of the ShaanXi Province that they are working in. They are a huge help. We also run community based book collections through Aston English of China. They are one of the largest private English language schools in China, with schools in over 40 cities. We hope to hold book drives in each of those cities annually, and then take those Chinese language children’s books and get them into countryside elementary schools. Aston English has made a major commitment to giving back in China.

I understand you recently made a trip to Shanghai and had some exciting opportunities crop up for you there. How exactly did all of that come about?

That is true. The University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business in Shanghai has been absolutely amazing. On November 24th, the Smith School of Business hosted a charity fundraiser in Shanghai that raised enough funds to provide twelve schools with full libraries. They got Black and Decker, Microsoft, Storm Case, Grainger, Grace, Under Armour, The Children’s Place, Jaguar, Avon, and Land Rover, among many others, involved.

The University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business in Shanghai and their China EMBA program have really made a difference in the lives of thousands of children living in the countryside of China.

Where will the funds you raised in Shanghai go and how will they be used?

The funds raised in Shanghai will go toward providing libraries to the Ba Qiao School District in the ShaanXi Province. Each school will receive 500 Chinese language children’s books, and a comfortable child-safe library for the children to use.

To date, what do you think has been your biggest success?

That’s a tough question to answer. There have been so many successes to date. But if I were to pick on success, it would be the creation of our School District Program. This program makes the kind of impact that we all like to see. True impact is hard to make, and I’m confident that providing every countryside elementary school in a single school districts improves the level of education that each and every child receives.

What are the next big plans for the Library Project? How do you see the project growing? How can people in China and abroad help you and support you?

The Library Project has a very clear plan for our future. We will have over 80 libraries provided to countryside elementary schools by the end of 2008. We’ll have over 200 by the end of 2009. We’ll continue that aggressive growth plan until every elementary school in China has children’s books for every child to read.

We have a ton of volunteer opportunities, both in China and abroad. The best place to begin is to check out our website at The Library Project.

All donations are greatly appreciated. Small and large donations really do make a difference. Each book that we provide to schools only cost $1 USD, or 8 Yuan. Adopting a school costs only $1,000 USD. Both of these really do make a huge impact on the lives of literally thousands of children.

The University of Maryland Smith School of Business Shanghai, China

Recently, during my trip in Shanghai, I had the opportunity to speak with Steven Feld, the Executive Director of Professional Programs and Services at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business at the Maryland Center China in Shanghai. What I found was a man with a conviction to foster the growth of a business school in China that could live up to the growing needs for talented managers and can provide people who have already succeeded at doing business in China a chance to hone their skills to a new level.

I have to admit that the interview’s beginning was little rocky. Because of a delay in my flight, I arrived at the Center, bags still in hand, about an hour and a half later than I’d planned. Fortunately, I was able to sneak into another interview and get a few shots at a question and answer. Dr. Feld was happily answering questions from a Chinese newspaper. I decided to go for the big one.

“So, how are you going to compete with Harvard? How about Duke? What have you got for the big guns?” I ask. Dr. Feld Steve Feld just grins. I know he’s been asked this question a dozen times before, and his response is fitting for a man who left Wharton to manage a program sitting on the fence between great and unbeatable.

“It’s all about service,” he said. “If you come to the University of Maryland’s EMBA program here, you get the same quality and the same teachers you’d get as if you were in the US. We don’t water down our program for China.”

And with that, I smiled, reached for my notebook, and realized I’d left it in the cab. Red-faced, I grabbed a sheet of paper from my bag and began writing furiously as Dr. Feld talked about this EMBA in China.

He also pointed out the way in which the program had been made administratively simple. “Our students have an average of 15 years of experience,” Dr. Feld pointed out, “and they are juggling families, running their companies, and completing 54 credit hours of school in 18 months. So we need to help them by making the administrative process of this course–buying books, registering for courses, receiving grades–as simple as possible.”

There were several key points that stood out as Dr. Feld talked. One was his sense of commitment: from everything he said, I could tell that the Smith School is not some kind of attempt to offer a mediocre program to a China hungry for, but an administratively simple program designed to produce the same quality of education that has given the University of Maryland its distinctive international reputation. A key point of the program is that the same professors who teach at the University of Maryland deliver the lectures and do the teaching just as they do in the US. Dr. Feld also stressed the three core competencies of the program: globalization, techonology, and innovation and entrepreneurship, which he believes will be core principles rising entrepreneurs and businesspeople need to master in the coming years of business.

Smith has some impressive ranking as well. Though it’s name is just beginning to come to China, it’s international reputation (ranked #17 in the world and #5 for its research department) is long-standing. One of the most interesting points of discussion I had with Dr. Feld was about the school’s impressive research rank. Can a school with a rank like that deliver good quality teaching, I wondered? Or would the faculty at the U of Maryland feel so much pressure to perform in research that they would neglect their teaching duties? Dr. Feld, as always, gave a delightful response. “Well, we have two ways to respond to that. First, we have research centers designed to disseminate the information from our researchers to the public and to interested parties. Second, we have a really smart dean who created a staff of teaching professors who aren’t obligated to do research. And what this has done is increase the standard of teaching at the University of Maryland, so that both the teaching staff and the research staff frequently get rated highly for their teaching.”

There is a saying China (isn’t there always?): “麻雀虽小, 五脏俱全.” Though the sparrow is small, it has all the vital organs. And though Maryland is by no means a small school in any sense of the word–its reputation and abilities place it among the best in the world–its name is only beginning to gain weight and force in China. Despite this, the programs the University of Maryland offers in China–its EMBA as well as its professional development courses–are designed with care and clever precision to deliver high-quality instruction to China’s business leaders.

A final update: interested readers can check out the Smith Business Intelligence site, a great source of useful information about the latest business information in China.

中文

This past weekend I traveled to Shanghai in order to attend the 2007 China Education Expo, an annual traveling expo showcasing international study abroad opportunities for Chinese students. While there, I also had the chance to catch up with several bloggers, speak with Steve Feld, the Executive Director the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business, and spend some time with Christine Lu of the China Business Network. I have to admit that serendipity seemed to follow me as I met up with a number of people, from a helpful and friendly group of Casablancan businessmen on the plane to the Chinese watch salesman that helped me find an Internet Bar when I needed it most.

This week I’ll be writing stories about my adventures and some of the fantastic dreamers I met in my few short days in Shanghai. Photos and maps will follow. Unfortunately, my camera battery died a quick, painless death on this trip, but others have been generous enough to donate their own photos.

Photo courtesy of Ken Yip.

PS–My regrets to missing Chris Carr of Cal Poly MBA Trip‘s latest visit. He was in Beijing and I was not able to meet up with him to hear about the latest on his MBA program in California.

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Recently, I spoke with Coffee, a former student of Liu Yanzhi, about the scholarship she received and about the dreams she wants to achieve. As some of you know, Coffee is a university student in Guangzhou and lost her leg last year to cancer. Though she spent months out of school, she studied over summer to make sure she graduated on time, and has now received a $20,000 USD scholarship to study French and learn to how to become a UN translator. I wanted to share this conversation I had with Coffee.

Dawei: Tell us a little bit about the scholarship you received to study translation.

Coffee: Yeah，I should say‘ thank you’ to my French teacher, he is so kind. He has high expectation on us and so he is strict with us in class, but he is easy-going after classes. I know what it means the moment he decides to grant me this opportunity. I will not let him down. Of course I will grab this opportunity to improve my French proficiency.

Dawei: Will you tell us about your dreams for yourself and why you wanted to study translation?

Coffee: I am always ambitious, I want to learn more about the languages and the cultures about the world, and I want to be a bridge between China and other countries in the world, to be a translator. I am fond of French; Luckily, I got this chance, thanks to the kindness of one of my former teachers at my school. I am now taking French as a second foreign language, and I will keep improving it.

Dawei: What are your dreams for your family and community?

Coffee: Yeah, I’ve been dreaming of changing the condition of my family for a long time. Dad and Mum are now getting old, and they have been swinking all their lives, it’s high time I did something for them, I want to make their lives better, and enjoy their lives in their old ages. I am now living in a small village, it’s far away from Guangzhou, most of my peers receive a secondary school education, and then pour into the job world. I am the only one to get a college education in my village. I hope I can change all this, and to make more children get access to higher education.

Dawei: Dreams are often held back by fears. What is your biggest fear about your dreams, and how have you overcome it?

Coffee: I always tell myself not to put all the eggs in one basket. I am always trying different ways to do things better, to be frank，when striking for my dreams, I am not fear of anything. I have confidence on myself. And I wish I could get a job as a translator, that’s the first step of fulfilling my dreams.

Dawei: What do you encourage others to do in order to achieve their dreams?

Coffee: I want to do my best and to be excellent and to show people life is to be conquered however hard it is. As long as you have a will, nothing is difficult. It is important keeping optimistic while facing difficulties.

Dawei: What do you hope to do with your scholarship and after you complete your training?

Coffee: I will keep on learning , as the saying goes : It’s never to late to learn. It does not mean my French proficiency is good enough after attending the training, there are lots of things I need to learn about. I hope I can learn more during my work. And I know clearly that to be a good translator, I should keep renewing my knowledge.

Keep Dreaming:

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